Kathleen Logan Smith, Executive Director of Missouri Coalition for the Environment, discusses Occupy Monsanto in St. Louis and the week of actions targeting Monsanto on the first anniversary of Occupy Wall St.

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Activists from Millions Against Monsanto and the Gateway Green Alliance hang a banner across the street from an industry conference on “biosafety of GMOs.” Photo: Petermann/GJEP

Note: Global Justice Ecology Project Executive Director Anne Petermann and Board Chair Orin Langelle were in St. Louis over September 16 and 17 for the GMO-Free Midwest Conference and the Occupy Monsanto day of action. The events were organized by the Organic Consumers Association and the Gateway Greens Alliance.

Petermann spoke on the first day of the GMO Free Midwest conference on the dangers of genetically engineered trees at C.A.M.P. (Community Arts and Movement Project) near downtown St. Louis. Langelle spoke against the Green Economy during day two of the GMO Free Midwest conference. Day two of the conference was held simultaneous to the “12th International Symposium of Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms” at the Millennium Hotel, adjacent to the St. Louis arch.

The second day of the conference and the Occupy Monsanto actions which followed were held in celebration of the one-year Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street.

The photo essay below is from the day of activities against Monsanto, both the conference at the Millennium hotel and the three actions that followed. The actions included a rally outside of the Millennium Hotel, an action at Whole Foods directed at their policy of allowing GMO foods to be sold in their stores, and an protest outside the world headquarters of Monsanto in Creve Coeur, Missouri.

–The GJEP Team

Rich Martin, a Director at the Millennium hotel, in full freak-out mode, threatens to throw out organizers and journalists from the GMO Free Midwest conference for asking questions and attempting to take photos. Photo: Petermann/ GJEP

Irina Ermakova, a leading scientist at the Russian Academy of Scientists presented on the health impacts of GMOs at the 12th International Symposium of Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms. She then left that event to join the activists at the GMO Free Midwest conference at the Millennium Hotel. Later she took part in the demonstration outside of the hotel in protest of the GMO industry conference. Photo: Petermann/GJEP

Protesters rally across the street from the Millennium Hotel. Photo: Langelle/GJEP

A mother and her two children protest Monsanto and GMOs outside of the Millennium Hotel. Photo: Langelle/GJEP

Mutant corn is turned away from participating in the “12th International Symposium of Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms.” Photo: Langelle/GJEP

Note: Global Justice Ecology Project Executive Director Anne Petermann and Board Chair Orin Langelle will be in St. Louis this weekend to speak at the Occupy Monsanto Conference. They will be connecting the dots between Monsanto and genetically engineered tree manufacturer ArborGen, as well as rallying support for the Campaign to Stop GE Trees. You can read GJEP’s press release outlining the ties between Monsanto and ArborGen here, and you can sign the petition to stop GE trees here

-The GJEP Team

Source: Occupy Monsanto

Nine protesters were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of trespassing after blocking access to a Monsanto seed distribution center in Oxnard, group organizers said.

Those arrested were part of a decentralized network of food activists and Occupy protesters, said Adam Eidenger, a spokesman for the Occupy Monsanto group.

Their aim is to protest Monsanto’s sales of genetically modified seeds, he said. They also sought to bring attention to Proposition 37, a ballot initiative set to come before California voters this fall.

The initiative, if passed, would require foods containing genetically modified materials to be labeled as such. Eidenger said the Occupy Monsanto group, however, is not affiliated with “Yes on 37,” the group urging voters to pass the measure.

About a dozen protesters arrived at Seminis Vegetable Seeds in Oxnard, a Monsanto subsidiary, Wednesday morning and blocked access to the facility, organizers said.

Eidenger said Wednesday’s protest kicks off several dozen planned events around the world to call attention to genetically modified foods.

A request for comment from Monsanto was not immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.

St. Louis, MO–The Campaign to Stop GE Trees http://nogetrees.org will participate in the Occupy Monsanto conference here on September 16-17 to sound the alarm about the dangers genetically engineered trees pose to communities, wildlife and forests. The campaign asserts that Monsanto is complicit in this emerging hazard.

Monsanto’s glyphosate-based RoundUp herbicide will be used to control weeds around trees that are genetically engineered to be “RoundUp Ready,” or resistant to that herbicide. Use of this trait in GMO crops led to a documented tripling in the use of the herbicide, resulting in widespread problems with RoundUp resistant weeds, which require applications of more toxic herbicides to eliminate them. [1]

Just as GMO seed giant Monsanto has flooded the global market with their patented GMO seeds, ArborGen, which specializes in genetically engineered tree seedlings, intends to do the same. [2] ArborGen is a joint project of International Paper, MeadWestvaco and New Zealand-based Rubicon and one of their original joint owners was Monsanto.

“It’s clear from researching ArborGen’s public relations messaging that they see themselves as the new Monsanto,” stated Will Bennnington, of Global Justice Ecology Project. “They plan to follow the ruthless Monsanto model and don’t care who gets hurt in the process,” he added.

The links between ArborGen and Monsanto run deep. Numerous current and former staff had long tenures at Monsanto before being employed by ArborGen. [3]

“If ArborGen floods the market with their dangerous and uncontrollable GE trees, these trees will inevitably and irreversibly escape into the environment,” explained Anne Petermann, Executive Director of Global Justice Ecology Project and Coordinator of the Campaign to Stop GE Trees. “Patent law has enabled Monsanto to infamously sue farmers for possessing their GMO seeds after these seeds contaminated farmers’ lands. Think what that could mean to National Forests, National Parks or even private landowners if ArborGen’s invasive GE trees were found on those lands,” she continued.

ArborGen currently has a request pending with the USDA to commercially sell hundreds of millions of their GE eucalyptus tree seedlings annually for planting across the US South, claiming they will be used for bioenergy production and climate change mitigation. [4] GE eucalyptus, however, are highly flammable and could lead to uncontrollable firestorms, which would release huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. Jim Hightower has referred to ArborGen’s GE eucalyptus trees as ‘living firecrackers’.”